Hi, everyone.

Welcome to Fall Semester, 2009. Please find the following documents below:
1. Syllabus Fall 2009
2. Course Objectives
3. Helpful Hints (for surviving my class)
4. Extra Credit Book Requirements


General Biology
BIOL 1610 Syllabus
Sections 006 and 007

Contact Information:
Lecturer: Teresa Rich E-mail: trich16@mypage.slcc.edu or ervoir@hotmail.com

Course Meeting Place & Times:
Jordon Campus, High Tech Center, Room 209
Section 006: MW 6:00 – 7:20 PM Section 007: MW 7:30 - 8:50 PM

Text:
Solomon et al – Biology (8th Edition)

Course Description:
Biol 1610 is an introductory biology class that is intended for health science, pre-professional (pre-med, pre-dentistry, pre-veterinary, pre-pharmacy, etc.) students and students majoring in biology. This class satisfies the general education (for biological sciences) requirement and acts as a prerequisite for other biology courses. Topics covered include characteristics of living organisms, scientific methodology, taxonomy, basic cellular chemistry and energetics, cell structure and functionality, fundamental genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, ecology and diversity.

Biology Laboratory:
Concurrent enrollment in Biol 1615 is required of Biol 1610 students.

Course Time Requirements:
Students are expected to attend approximately three hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory (Biol 1615) per week. Students should anticipate spending one to two hours each day doing assigned reading, learning lecture material, and preparing for quizzes/exams.

Tentative Schedule
Test dates will not change, but what will be covered may change.

Dates Chapter Topic Quiz or Test

Aug 26 Course Overview, 1 - A View of Life
Aug 31, Sep 2 2 - Atoms & Molecules: The Chemical Basis of Life
Sep 7 No Cass - Labor Day
Sep 9, 14 3 - The Chemistry of Life: Organic Compounds Quiz 1
Sep 16 4 - Organization of the Cell Quiz 1 due
Sep 21 Test 1 (covers Chapters 1 - 3)

Sep 23, 28 5 - Biological Membranes
Sep 30 6 - Cell Communication Quiz 2
Oct 5, 7 7 - Energy & Metabolism Quiz 2 due
Oct 12 Test 2 (covers Chapter 4 - 7)

Oct 14,19 8 - How Cells Make ATP: Energy-Releasing Pathways
Oct 21, 26 9 - Photosynthesis: Capturing Energy Quiz 3
Oct 28, Nov 2 10 - Chromosomes, Mitosis, and Meiosis Quiz 3 due
Nov 9 11 - The Basic Principles of Heredity
Nov 11 12 - DNA: The Carrier of Genetic Information
Nov 16 Test 3 (covers Chapters 8 - 11)

Nov 18, 23 13 - Gene Expression Quiz 4
Nov 25 No class - Day before Thanksgiving
Nov 30 18 - Introduction to Darwinian Evolution Quiz 4 due
Nov 30 Last day to turn in Extra Credit book reports

Dec 2 19 - Evolutionary Change in Populations Quiz 5 (optional)
Dec 7 Test 4 (covers Chapters 12 - 13, 18 - 19)

Dec 9 Review for final exam
Last day turn in quizzes & make up tests in
Last day to correct scores

Dec 11 Reading Day
Dec 14, 5:30 – 9:30 pm Final Exam (comprehensive)
4x6 note card allowed

Grading:
*Performance will be evaluated on the basis of quizzes, five in-class tests, and a two-hour comprehensive final exam.

*Quizzes will be worth 30 points each for a total of 100 regular points and 20 extra credit points. Each test will be worth 125 points and the final will be valued at 200 points. Your lab score, worth 200 points, will be included in your score. The possible point total for Biol 1610 will be 1,000 points.

*Quizzes will be take home. They will given out on Wednesday after we cover the chapters the quiz covers. Quizzes are due on the following Monday after it is given out. Quizzes are open book and open study group but not open instructor. Late quizzes will have one point/day late deducted unless there are legitimate reasons (sever illness, injury, blizzards, etc.)

*Tests will be given in class and will be multiple choice and matching. Students who are unable to take the tests at the scheduled times need to contact me and they will take a different, usually more difficult, test in the Jordan Assessment Center.


Grading Scale:
A = 923 - 1,000 B- = 799 - 822 D+ = 673 - 698
A- = 899 - 922 C+ = 773 - 798 D = 623 - 672
B+ = 873 - 898 C = 723 - 772 D- = 600 - 622
B = 823 - 872 C- = 699 - 722 E = <600>C. It is 1 credit hour and meets for two hours. Other services are the Learning Center, Focused Tutoring, Study Skills Workshops, and the Science Resource Center.

Students With Disabilities Statement:
Students with medical, psychological, learning or other disabilities desiring accommodations or services under ADA, must contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC ). The DRC determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of these accommodations and services for the college." Please contact the DRC at the Student Center, Suite 244, Redwood Campus, 4600 So. Redwood Rd, 84123. Phone: (801) 957-4659, TTY: 957-4646, Fax: 957- 4947 or by email: linda.bennett@slcc.edu
http://www.blogger.com/%20mailto:linda.bennett@slcc.edu

General Education Statement:
This course is part of the General Education Program at Salt Lake Community College. It is designed not only to teach the information and skills required by the discipline, but also to develop vital workplace skills and to teach strategies and skills that can be used for life-long learning.

While the subject of each course is important and useful, we become truly educated through making connections of such varied information with the different methods of organizing human experience that are practiced by different disciplines. Therefore, this course, when combined with other General Education courses, will enable you to develop broader perspectives and deeper understanding of your community and the world, as well as challenge previously held assumptions about the world and its inhabitants. You will also explore a wide variety of topics with an eye toward discovering new interests and uncovering new talents

General Education courses teach basic skills as well as broaden a student’s knowledge of a wide range of subjects. Education is much more than the acquisition of facts; it is being able to use information in meaningful ways in order to enrich one’s life. General Education courses focus on communication, creativity, and critical thinking skills and along with the substance of the course’s information, an appreciation of the esthetics of the area of study and its connection to the larger social web.

Learning Outcomes Assessment:SLCC is committed to fostering and assessing the following student learning outcomes in its courses:*Acquiring substantive knowledge in the field of their choice *Developing quantitative literacies*Developing the knowledge and skills to be civically engaged *Thinking critically*Communicating effectively

Cell Phones/Pagers:
Please turn off all electronic devices during class. I-pod use is not allowed during tests.

Policy on Cheating:
Cheating will result in an E for the course.
1. Texting is not allowed during tests - it looks like cheating and will be treated as such. Texting during a text will result in no points for that test.
2. I-pods and other electronics are not allowed. It looks like cheating and will be treated as such. 3. Text books, backpacks, bags, or notes will be left at the door.
4. Unless you are taking the test, you must wait outside the classroom.


Biology 1610 Objectives

Study Objectives for Chapter 1: A View of Life

1. Be able to distinguish between living and nonliving things by listing and describing the key characteristics of living things.

2. Living things have a hierarchy of organization that exhibits emergent properties at various levels. Be able to list and describe the various levels in the hierarchy of biological organization.

3. How is information transferred within an organism?

4. Be familiar with the biological subfields of systematics and taxonomy. How are species named using the binomial system of nomenclature (=Linnaean system)? How are organisms classified using a hierarchical classification scheme (=taxonomical hierarchy)? Be able to list the major ranks (categories) in the taxonomical hierarchy.

5. List and describe the three domains of living things. Be able to list and briefly describe the kingdom(s) found in each of these domains.

6. Be able to briefly describe how evolution occurs by natural selection.

7. How does energy cycle within an ecosystem?

8. How is the scientific method used by scientists to increase our understanding of the world. How does a hypothesis differ from the theory?

Study Objective for Chapter 2: Atoms and Molecules: The Chemical Basis of Life

1. Be able to describe the structure of an atom in terms of its major subatomic particles (i.e. protons, neutrons, and electrons). How doe these particles differ in terms of: charge, mass, and location within the atom? What is the atomic mass of an atom? What is the atomic number of an atom? How do the different elements differ, one from another? What are isotopes? What are ions?

2. Know the names and symbols of the chemical elements listed in Table 2-1 (page 26). Observe the location of these elements (and their electron configurations) on the periodic table, Figure 2-1 (page 27).

3. Be familiar with the way chemical compounds are written using the simplest, molecular, and structural formulae.

4. What is a mole (in chemistry)? How is the weight of a mole of a chemical compound calculated?
5. Be familiar with the manner in which a chemical reaction is written.

6. What is a covalent bond? How does a double or triple covalent bound differ from a single covalent bond? How does a polar covalent bond differ from a nonpolar covalent bond?

7. What is an ionic bond?

8. What is a redox reaction?

9. What is a hydrogen bond? What type(s) of molecules from hydrogen bonds? How does hydrogen bonding affect the properties of water? Why are the properties of water important to living things?

10. Be able to describe the difference between an acid and base. What is the scale which is used to measure the strength of acids and bases? What is a buffer?

Study Objectives for Chapter 3: The Chemistry of Life: Organic Compounds

1. What is an organic compound? What is a hydrocarbon? What is an isomer? Why are isomers important in cells?

2. Be able to recognize and/or depict the structural formulae for the seven functional groups listed in Table 3-1 (page 49). What kind(s) of organic compounds are these commonly found in? How does each of these affect the chemical properties of the organic compounds that contain them?

3. What is polymer? Be able to describe the importance of hydrolysis reactions and condensation reactions in the breakdown and formation of polymers.

4. Be able to list and characterize each of the four major classes of large organic molecules (i.e. lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, and nucleic acids). Which of these groups includes polymers? What are the monomers used to form these molecules (see Table 3-3 on page 62 summary)?

5. What do all carbohydrates have in common? Be able to describe how disaccharides and polysaccharides may be formed by condensation reactions between monosaccharides, and conversely how hydrolysis reactions are used to break glycosidic linkages. Be familiar with some of the most common monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. What functions are associated with these molecules?

6. What characteristic do all lipids possess? What is a fatty acid? Be familiar with the major groups (and specific examples) of lipids: triacylglyerols/triglycerides, phospholipids, carotenoids, and steroids. How does a saturated fatty acid differ from an unsaturated fatty acid?

7. What is a protein? What is an amino acid? Be able to describe primary, secondary, tertiary, and quaternary structure in a protein. What are some of the major functions carried out by proteins (see Table 3-2 on page 62)?

8. What do all nucleic acids have in common? What are nucleotides? Be able to list the three parts of a nucleotide. How are nucleotides organized in RNA molecules? How are nucleotides organized in DNA molecules? What are the functions of RNA and DNA? Be familiar with the biologically important nucleotides ATP and GTP and the dinucleotide NADH.

Study Objectives for Chapter 4: Organization of the Cell

1. What are the major statements of the cell theory? Be able to name the 19th century biologists who are primarily responsible for formulating and stating cell theory.

2. What features or abilities do all cells have in common?

3. Be able to describe the structure and function of the major parts of a prokaryotic cell: plasma membrane, nucleoid/nuclear area, cytoplasm, ribosomes, cell wall, and flagella).

4. Be able to describe the structure and function of the major parts of a eukarytotic cell: plasma membrane, cell wall, nucleus, cytoplasm, ribosomes, mitochondria, plastids, (chloroplasts, chromoplasts, leucoplasts, and proplastids), endoplasmic reticulum (rough ER and smooth ER), Golgi complex, vesicles, lysosomes, peroxisomes, vacuoles, cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella, centrioles and basal bodies (see Table 4-1 on page 89).

5. Be able to compare and contrast prokaryotic cell structure with eukaryotic cells structure.

6. What is the endomembrane system of an eukaryotic cell? How are the various organelles which collectively make up this system structurally and functionally related?

7. What are the three types of proteinaceous structural elements which make up the cytoskeleton? Be able to describe the structure and function(s) of each of these.

Study Objectives for Chapter 5: Biological Membranes

1.Be able describe the organization of the molecules which make up a “typical” biological membrane, according to the fluid mosaic model. What is the general function(s) associated with the “phospholipid bilayer” portion of the membrane? What functions are associated with the membrane proteins? What is the difference between a peripheral and an intergral protein? What is a transmembrane protein?


1.What is diffusion. What are the physical properties which affect the diffusional rate of a molecule? What sort(s) of materials move into or out of a cell by simple diffusion? What is the importance of diffusion within a cell?

2.What is osmosis? How will a animal cell respond if placed into isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic solutions? How will a plant cell respond if placed into these three types of solutions.

3.What is a channel protein? What is a carrier protein? What is carrier-mediated transport?

4.Be able to describe how cells transport atoms or molecules through the membrane by faciliatated diffusion or active transport. In what way(s) are these two processes similar? How do they differ? What is a cotransport system?

5.How are materials moved through the membrane by endocytosis and exocyctosis? What is receptor-medicated endocytosis?

6.What is the importance of ligands, first messengers, and second messengers in cell signaling? What is a G protein?

7.Be able to describe the tight junctions, desmosomes, and gap junctions which occur between animal cells. Be able to describe the plasmodesmata that interconnect plant cells.

Study Questions for Chapter 6: Cell Communication


1.Describe the sequence of events that takes place in cell signaling (See Figure 6-2 on page 136).

2.Describe three types of signaling molecules.

3.Explain the general process of signal reception. Include both membrane and intracellular receptors. Be able to describe the 3 primary types of membrane receptors.

4.Explain the genral process of signal transduction. Be able to describe the most common systems (e.g. protein phosphorylation) and receptors.

5.Briefly describe a signal response. What types of responses are possible?

Study Questions for Chapter 7: Energy and Metabolism


1.Be able to define matter and energy. How does potential energy differ from kinetic energy? Be able to list and discuss the first and second laws of thermodynamics. How do these apply to a discussion of energetics within living things?

2.Distinguish between exergonic and endergonic reactions. What is ATP and its central role? Be able to describe how ATP couples endergonic and exergonic chemical reactions. How do molecules such as NAD+ transfer energy in redox reactions?

3.What is an enzyme? Be able to explain how an enzyme is able to act as an organic catalyst for a chemical reaction. What determines the specificity of an enzyme?

4.What is a cofactor? What is a coenzyme? Be able to discuss how enzyme activity is modified by irreversible inhibition, competitive inhibition and noncompetitive inhibition. How do enzymes respond to changes in temperature and pH?

5.What is an allosteric enzyme? How do allosteric regulators determine the behavior of this type of enzyme? How may these be used to regulate a metabolic pathway?

Study Questions for Chapter 8: How Cells Make ATP:Energy-Releasing Pathways


1.What is the overall significance (or “purpose”) of cellular respiration? Be able to discuss the differences between the anaerobic breakdown of glucose and the aerobic breakdown of glucose (see Table 8-2 on page 187).

2.What are the four stages of aerobic respiration? Be able to list and describe the reactions of glycolysis, fermentation, formation of acetyl CoA, citric acid cycle, electron transport, and chemiosmosis (i.e. where does each take place, what are the reactants and net products of each?). Know the enzymes which catalyze each of these steps, and be able to describe where each takes place (in an eukaryotic cell) (see Table 8-1 on page 173).

3.What is substrate-level phosphorylation of ADP to form ATP? How does this differ from oxidative phosphorylation? Where does each of these types of ATP formation take place within a cell?

4.Be able to list and describe the steps of fermentation and the enzymes which catalyze each of these steps.

Study Questions for Chapter 9: Photosynthesis: Capturing Energy


1.Describe the physical properties of light and explain the relationship between a wavelength of light and its energy.

2.What is photosynthesis? Be able to describe where it takes place. Why is photosynthesis important to a plant and to other organisms? Describe what happens to an electron in biological molecules such as chlorophyll when a photon of light energy is absorbed.

3. Describe the flow of electrons through photosystems I and II in the noncyclic electrons transport pathway and the products produced (see figure 9-11 on page 199). Contrast this with cyclic electron transport. Explain how a proton gradient is established across the thylakoid membrane and how this gradient functions in ATP synthesis.

4.Summarize the three phases of the Calvin cycle and indicate the roles of ATP and NADPH in this process.

5.Compare and contrast the C3, C4, and CAM pathways.

Study Questions for Chapter 10: Chromosomes, Mitosis, and Meiosis


1.How is the DNA of an eukaryotic cell organized? Be able to describe the organization of DNA and histone proteins in a “typical” eukaryotic chromosome. What is a nucleosome?

2.How does a meiotic nuclear division differ from a mitotic nuclear division, in terms of the genetic condition of the daughter nuclei?

3.Be able to list and describe the portions of the cell cycle of a eukaryotic cell. What events occur in G1, S, and G2?

4.Be able to list the stages of mitosis. What events characterize each of these stages?

5.Be able to describe cytokinesis (in animal cells) by the formation of a cleavage furrow. Be able to describe cytokinesis (in plant cells) by the formation of a cell plate.

6.Be able to list the stages of meiosis. What events characterize each of these stages? How are these stages similar (or dissimilar) to the stages of mitosis?

7.What is the importance of meiosis is respect to an organism’s life cycle? How does asexual reproduction differ from sexual reproduction? Be able to describe the timing of meiosis and fertilization in a plant, animal, and fungal life cycle.

Study Questions for Chapter 11: The Basic Principles of Heredity


1.Be familiar with the types of pea plant crosses performed by Mendel. Be able to predict the results of simple monohydrid and dihybrid crosses (and test crosses) in which the alleles interact by simple dominance.

2.Briefly state Mendel’s principles of segregation and independent assortment. How does gene linkage affect independent assortment?

3.How does the frequency of crossing-over indicate the linear order of linked genes on a chromosome?

4.What is a sex chromosome? How is sex inherited in humans? Be able to predict the outcome of crosses that involve X-linked genes.

5.Be able to predict the results of crosses that involve incomplete dominance, codominance, epistasis, and multiple alleles.

6.How do pleiotropic alleles vs polygenes affect patterns of inheritance?

Study Questions for Chapter 12: DNA: The Carrier of Genetic Information


1.Describe the general structure of a DNA molecule. What were the key contributions of Chargaff, Franklin and Wilkins, Watson and Crick, and Meselson and Stahl to our understanding of the structure (and function) of DNA molecules? What is a gene?

2.Describe the process of DNA replication. What are the major enzymes which control this process. Why is replication described as being semiconservative?

3.How does the leading strand differ from the lagging strand? What is an Okazaki fragment?

Study Questions for Chapter 13: Gene Expression

1.How does an RNA molecule differ from a DNA molecule? What are the different types of RNA? Be able to describe the function of each of these during protein synthesis.

2.Be familiar with the way information for the formation of proteins is encoded into a DNA molecule (i.e. the genetic code). Why is the genetic code described as a triplet code? What is a codon? What type of molecule has codons? What type of molecule has anticodons? Why is the genetic code described as being redundant and virtually universal? Be able to use a table of codons (see 13-5 on page 284) to determine the amino acid sequence coded for by a strand of DNA.

3.Describe how RNA is formed by transcription. What is a promoter? What is the function of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase?

4.Describe how a polypeptide is formed by translation. What roles are played by ribosomes, mRNA, tRNA, and amionacyl-tRNA synthetases during translation? What are P, A, and E sites of a ribosome? Be familiar with the initiation, elongation, and termination portions of translation.

5.How does the flow of genetic information in a retrovirus differ from that seen in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms?

6.How does a base substitution mutation differ from a frameshift mutation? How does a missense mutation differ from a nonsense mutation?

Study Questions for Chapter 18: Introduction of Darwinian Evolution

1.What is evolution, in a biological sense? What is a population? What is a species?

2.How does natural selection differ from artificial selection? Be able to discuss the importance of variation, overproduction, limits on population growth, and differential reproductive success to the process of natural selection.

3.Be familiar with the evidence supporting evolutionary theory derived from studies of the fossil record, comparative anatomy, biogeography, developmental biology, comparative molecular biology, and experimentation.

4.Be able to distinguish between homologous and homoplastic features of organisms. What is convergent evolution?

Study Questions for Chapter 19: Evolutionary Change in Populations


1.What is the gene pool of a population? What are genotype, phenotype, and allele frequencies in a population?

2.What is the Hardy-Weinberg principle? What conditions must exist within a population in order for a genetic equilibrium to exist? What is the significance of Hardy-Weinberg principle in discussions of evolution?

3.What forces promote genetic diversity within the gene pool of a population? What forces promote changes in gene pool gene (allele) frequencies?

4.What is genetic drift? Which type(s) of populations are most likely to be affected by genetic drift? How does the founder effect or a genetic bottleneck affect a population?

5.What is natural selection? Be able to describe the ways in which natural selection may produce change in a variable population (i.e. stabilizing selection, directional selection, and disruptive selection).


Helpful Hints for Professor Rich’s Biology 1610 Class

1. Attend class on time, especially on the first two days of class. I will be taking roll at the beginning of class on the first two days on class and anyone not attending will be dropped. This is Department policy. There is high demand for the class and priority will be given to those who attend. Also, any changes to what will be covered on tests, etc, will be announced at the beginning of class.

2. The Course Objectives are a study guide. They are what the Department wants you to learn from Biol 1610 to be prepared for later classes. I base my lectures, tests, and quizzes on the course objectives.

3. Take Biol 1617 College Biology Workshop. In the past, students who have taken Biol 1617 concurrently with Biol 1610 have received grades of >C. It is 1 credit hour and meets for two hours. You can also receive help at the Learning Center, Focused Tutoring, Study Skills Workshops, and the Science Resource Center.

4. If, during the course of the class, you run into problems, contact me. I am generally available after class or by email. I can either help or direct you to those who can help. Every year I have students who just disappear and I have no choice but to give them E’s.

5. If, after the first test, you decide to the class if too much for your schedule, please drop the class. Once again, if you just disappear, I have to give you an E.

6. Form a study group. They are useful for the following reasons:
a. You are responsible for what is covered in class. If you are unable to attend either part or all of a class, get with a class member and exchange notes.
b. Learning is reinforced when you have to explain a concept to someone else.
c. Quizzes may be completed as a group.


Requirements for Extra Credit
Note: This is an early version. I will be updating this before Aug 26.

Extra credit book summaries must meet the following requirements:

1. Turned in your summary in an easy to read format, namely typed in 10 or 12 point font.
2. Summaries must be no more than one page long, one side. By the same token, they must be a full page.
3. Please do not hand in a first draft. At the very least, run a spell-check and grammar-check.
4. Convince me you actually read the book and learned something about biology.
5. If you read a book other than the ones listed, make sure it is nonfiction and covers a biology topic. If you chose psychology, make sure it is on the biology of the brain and not classical psychology.

If your summary was returned without a grade written on the top, it did not meet the above requirements.

Potential Books to Read for Extra Credit

Can a Guy Get Pregnant?
By Bill Stones and Rich Stones

The Double Helix - A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA
By James Watson

The Hot Zone
By Richard Preston

The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history
By John M Barry

How Not to Die: Dr. G
By Jan Garavaglia, M.D.

See you all on Aug 26.

TSR